“No.” He stroked her head, needing to touch as much as to check for her fever that had finally broken near dawn. “It was easier to bring you here after Bailey took care of you. You didn’t need a hospital, but neither of us liked the idea of your being in a hotel right now.”

“Your house,” she murmured, struggling to concentrate her strength. “This is your bedroom, I remember the rug.”

They’d made love on it once. That’s what Ky remembered. With an effort, he kept his hands light. “Are you hungry?”

“I don’t know.” Basically, she felt nothing. When she tried to sit up, the drug spun in her head, making both the room and reality reel away. That would have to stop, Kate decided while she waited for the dizziness to pass. She’d rather have some pain than that helpless, weighted sensation.

Without fuss, Ky moved the pillows and shifted her to a sitting position. “The doctor said you should eat when you woke up. Just some soup.” Rising he looked down on her, in much the same way, Kate thought, as he’d looked at a cracked mast he was considering mending. “I’ll fix it. Don’t get up,” he added as he walked to the door. “You’re not strong enough yet.”

As he went into the hall he began to swear in a low steady stream.

Of course she wasn’t strong enough, he thought with a last vicious curse. She was pale enough to fade into the sheets she lay on. No resistance, that’s what Bailey had said. Not enough food, not enough sleep, too much strain. If he could do nothing else, Ky determined as he pulled open a kitchen cupboard, he could do something about that. She was going to eat, and lie flat on her back until the doctor said otherwise.

He’d known she was weak, that was the worst of it. Ky dumped the contents of a can into a pot then hurled the empty container into the trash. He’d seen the strain on her face, the shadows under her eyes, he’d heard the traces of fatigue come and go in her voice, but he’d been too wrapped up in his own needs to do anything about it.

With a flick of the wrist, he turned on the burner under the soup, then the burner under the coffee. God, he needed coffee. For a moment he simply stood with his fingers pressed against his eyes waiting for his system to settle.